Sistina simply pointed at the front of the tomb. Stepping close to it, Phynis frowned as she looked at the words carved into the stone. It was old script, predating the Godsrage, and it took her a minute to decipher. She slowly read the text aloud as she translated it, her voice faltering as she progressed. “Here lies our Matriarch and Marquess. May her rest be easy and eternal, lest she chooses to enter the cycle of reincarnation once more. In loving memory of Sistina… Constella. 374 ED.”
“That… that…” Vendis’ eyes went huge, as did those of everyone else present as they realized the implications. The captain’s eyes turned to Lily as she asked, shocked. “You… did you know about this?”
“N-no! I couldn’t read it! I couldn’t understand it! I’m a gardener, not a sage,” Lily protested vehemently. “I’m not even sure what the big deal is.”
Phynis ignored them, her mind dazed as she mentally ran in circles. This tomb was nearly ten thousand years old. It predated the Godsrage by over four millennia, if the date was right. Legends said that where the Godsrage Mountains now stood had once been the domain of the elven kingdom of Everium, a forest kingdom that was verdant and powerful. But the Godsrage had destroyed the nation, and the survivors, changed by the immense magic of the war of gods, had founded the nations that became Sifaren and Yisara.
Looking at Sistina, many thoughts ran through Phynis’ head, and then she reached out with trembling fingers to caress the name carved in stone. Her voice was soft, trembling with hope and sorrow as she looked at the dryad. “Are you… this Sistina?”
A sense of disappointment pressed down on Phynis as the dryad shook her head. For a moment she had thought that perhaps this might be her own ancestor reborn, but that was too much to hope for. So after a moment, she asked, “Did you know her?”
Sistina nodded, stepping toward Phynis and reaching out to gently stroke a finger along her cheek. She ignored the gasp of shock from Vendis, but Phynis didn’t respond, instead focusing on the warm, soft skin of the dryad’s caress. And Sistina spoke softly, gently. “Friend.”
The dryad pulled away and touched the tomb, then nodded and spoke a final, firm word. “Guardian.”
“Oh.” Phynis was stunned and looked at the tomb, then at Vendis, and said, “Do you think… this is the lost capital of Everium? Part of it, I mean?”
“I…” Vendis paused, looking around the chamber. The cavern had only a single other intact structure, a house near some fields, but they could see more buildings toward the edge. Finally, the soldier admitted, “I think it might be. If one of your ancestors was buried here, it seems likely.”
Turning back to Sistina, Phynis hesitated before asking, “Sistina, can you break the slave brands?”
The dryad shook her head, and then wiggled her hand back and forth. Lily spoke up hesitantly. “I’m pretty sure she means not exactly. She’s answering you a lot better than she did me, though.”
“Well, do you know how to break them?” Phynis pressed, and her heart rose as the dryad nodded. Then she pointed at Phynis and shook her head, a sad look in her eyes.
Phynis hesitated, then looked at Vendis. “Captain, I think we have to stay here for at least a little while and find out what we can from Sistina. She might be able to help us.”
“You’re right. You’re definitely right. But we also can’t have everyone out in the open,” the captain replied, frowning to herself. “And we can’t split up, not with the mountains ahead of us. I just don’t have the soldiers to keep two groups safe, Your Highness.”
“Sistina? May we bring our group inside? It looks like there’s enough plants that we might be able to eat while we’re here,” Desa asked, glancing out across the cavern speculatively.
Sistina nodded, then pointed to Lily. The younger elf blinked, then spoke up hesitantly. “I don’t know where everyone would stay, but near the house I live in I’ve got an entire field of vegetables and fruit. It’s more than enough to feed everyone for a few weeks if need be, and it grows really fast. I think with help, I could grow enough to feed everyone for even longer than that.”
“Right. Then let’s go get the others inside, where it’s fairly safe, and we’ll see what we can learn,” Vendis decided, nodding and smiling hesitantly. Turning to Sistina, the captain bowed her head and apologized. “Sistina, I’m sorry for being difficult. It’s just that I’ve been charged with protecting Her Highness, and I feared that this might be a trap.”
“Forgiven,” Sistina replied simply, and Phynis saw some of Vendis’ tension ease.
But when she looked at the tomb again, Phynis was startled to see the gentle smile on Sistina’s face. The dryad was smiling at the tomb, and something about her expression… it felt like there was far more emotion in the dryad’s smile than there had been before.
Chapter 7
It took a while to get everyone settled into the cavern. Phynis could have almost sworn that some of the buildings near the edges of the cavern had moved while they’d been retrieving the others, and also seemed more intact than before.
She had to admit that watching the stunned faces of the other rescued women as they entered the cavern had been entertaining in its own right. Some of the other women seemed hesitant about staying in the caves for a little while rather than furthering the escape, but no one had outright objected. Fortunately, they at least had a defensible series of tunnels and there was plenty of food and other supplies.
About nightfall, Phynis watched in fascination as the glowing orbs on the ceiling slowly dimmed, and the crystal patch on the cavern roof grew darker as well. Watching it for a minute, she asked Lily as the dawn elf led the way toward Sistina’s tree again, “Is that light from outside?”
Lily paused, looking up at the crystal, and then nodded. “I’m pretty sure it is. I can’t be certain, of course, but Sistina seemed to indicate so over the winter.”
“That’s impressive.” Phynis admired it for a moment, but with Desa behind her, she didn’t feel she could spend time properly appreciating the sight. So instead, she continued onward toward the tree. It felt strange doing so with the tomb there, for some reason. She’d felt it was odd before, but now that she knew whose tomb it was, approaching Sistina felt like it was somehow wrong. After a few moments, she asked, “So how did she change your brand? What did it feel like, and what orders has she given you?”
“Umm, she just touched it, actually. She touched it for a few minutes while it slowly changed colors, and it felt warm, comfortable.” Lily shrugged, smiling a little as she looked back at Phynis. “And orders? None. All the previous ones just… ended, and I was free. She has never given me an order. Indicated she wanted something done, sure, but I chose to stay. I probably would never make it back to Yisara on my own if I tried leaving anyway.”
“You could come with us. It would be a long trip if you took the long way, but I bet you could make it around the mountains eventually,” Phynis offered, but paused for a moment, shrugging as she admitted. “But you might already be in a better state than most of the others who’ve been branded. A lot of them live in fear of being given an order by someone with a command crest without anyone else noticing. Or of being turned against the nation. And still other people mistreat those who’ve been branded, feeling that they can’t trust them. It’s… pretty bad, honestly.”
“That’s horrible!” Lily exclaimed, her eyes going wide. She hesitated before admitting, “I really didn’t think before running. I was given a chance, so I just took it to run as far and fast as I could.”
“I can understand that. I can’t imagine many people wouldn’t run if given the opportunity,” Phynis agreed, before asking again, “So are you going to come with us?”
“I don’t know. I actually like it here. Oh, I get lonely sometimes, and it isn’t like I can have real conversations with Sistina, but…” Lily hesitated, then sighed, looking at the ground. “I was barely more than a normal village girl before I was kidnapped. I was never going to be important, not like any
one else. When I was kidnapped, though, you always hear tales of those who end up in some dark castle or such, in the lap of luxury or serving villains, and able to make a difference, or who are rescued by knights in shining armor. I admit that a faint part of me dreamed of that happening. Instead, I ended up as a groundskeeper in a noble’s garden. I slept in the shed and was occasionally the Lady’s distraction. It was nothing like my dreams, and I think I would have eventually accepted it if she hadn’t accidentally given me the wrong order and let me run away. Here? Here I might have to work hard on occasion, but it’s actually more luxurious than the conditions I would have lived in back in Yisara or that shed.”
“That’s…” Phynis paused, trying to think of how to respond to Lily’s explanation. She felt a bit of annoyance at the thought the woman had dreamed of being some kind of heroine as she’d been kidnapped, but that wasn’t rational of her. Lily wasn’t a noble, or anyone important, she was just an average girl. So in that sort of situation, why shouldn’t she dream? And now, why not live somewhere isolated, where life was better for her?
But they reached the tree before she could make a decision about what to say. Sistina was sitting where she’d first seen her the previous time. Fortunately, this time she opened her eyes at a more leisurely pace and she didn’t speak in that thunderous tone. Instead, she tilted her head questioningly, even though her face remained relatively impassive. Phynis found the general lack of facial expressions a little creepy, if she was being honest with herself. And yet the beauty of the dryad was somehow captivating, drawing the eye of all others in the area.
“Hello, Sistina. I was hoping you could show or tell me how to break the brand?” Phynis asked the dryad hopefully.
Sistina nodded and stood. Motioning for the three of them to follow her, she walked toward the tunnel leading deeper into the mountainside. Lily grabbed one of the strange lanterns from a peg near the tunnel. Sistina pushed aside some vines forming a curtain over the tunnel and started down a path that was rockier than the caves that the elves had followed to reach her cavern before, and this time they were going downward. They passed two junctions after a few minutes, one of which was extremely narrow, to the point that Phynis wasn’t certain anyone who was an adult could follow the path down that direction. But at a third junction, Sistina turned off the main cavern path, pausing and helping each of them down some rough stone steps. This was far rougher than the other areas Phynis had walked over.
Several times, she opened her mouth to ask where they were going, but each time, she shut her mouth again. Finally she asked Lily, “Lily? Have you been down here before?”
“Nope. I don’t go into the tunnels that go deeper into the mountainside,” the dawn elf replied, her voice a touch hesitant. “I don’t like the dark as much, and when I wanted to get out of the cavern, I wanted to feel the wind on my face.”
“I can agree there. It’s difficult, feeling the mountain’s weight above you,” Desa spoke softly, her voice echoing in the tunnel.
All of them were surprised, though, when Sistina paused and held a finger to her mouth, shaking her head. She pointed ahead of them, and Phynis strained her eyes for a moment before seeing a soft blue light, almost drowned out by the lantern.
After everyone grew quiet, the dryad slowly approached the end of the hallway, beckoning them along when they hesitated. When Sistina turned the corner, she stopped and bowed deeply, holding the pose as they caught up. Phynis turned the corner herself and gasped in shock.
This chamber was even more startling than the one in which Sistina’s tree stood, if only because it was much more obvious that this cave had been deliberately protected from the violence that had befallen the other structures. The cave was a near-perfect sphere, with the bottom quarter of the sphere relatively flat, and sigils were set into the walls. Phynis was no expert on such matters, but the sigils seemed to be runes of protection. In the center of the chamber was an elegantly designed shrine or temple. It was on the small side for a temple, but the building was beautifully crafted of white marble, and glowing blue orbs were set into the four small spires that anchored each corner of the building. All around the temple was a broad, carefully laid out pool, almost a moat, filled with pristine, glowing water. From where they stood they were almost directly in front of the temple, where a bridge crossed the pool in a gentle marble arch. Standing midway between them and the temple was a fountain, still functioning even after all these years, at the center of which was a statue of an elegant woman in flowing robes, arms outstretched toward those coming closer, and a gentle smile on her face.
“Is that a temple of Navir?” Phynis whispered to Desa, stunned at seeing a temple to the goddess of life and water down here. At Desa’s nod, she swallowed. “It’s so… different from what I expected. So ancient…”
Slowly, each of them bowed to the temple, much as Sistina had. Sistina eventually straightened and stepped forward, stopping respectfully just in front of the bridge. Phynis followed, her eyes widening as she felt that she’d just stepped onto holy ground.
Lily let out a yelp of shock as the water of the fountain swirled and formed into a blue-skinned man, his lower body formed of water and his hair midnight blue and falling down his back, He was frowning at them and had watery orbs for eyes, but his attention seemed fixed on Sistina.
“A water lord!” Desa gasped, jumping back slightly as she saw the powerful water elemental. Phynis stiffened, but didn’t move. If the being was what Desa had said it was, it could easily defeat her and Desa with her guard’s magic sealed away. Phynis regretted coming without any other guards, but the elemental didn’t seem hostile. Not yet, at least.
“Intriguing,” the elemental lord spoke at last in a deep voice, tilting his head as he examined Sistina. After a moment, he glanced at the rest of them and smiled.
“Lord Elemental, I greet you in the name of the Sifaren Kingdom,” Phynis spoke softly, giving the best curtsey she could manage while wearing a pair of trousers.
“And I greet you, child of the Everium Kingdom,” he spoke gravely, nodding to them. “While no priest or priestess is in attendance, as your guide’s intentions are benign, I may allow you access to the temple.”
“Umm… thank you?” Desa replied in surprise, blinking. “May I ask what you meant by your initial comment?”
“Your guide is… interesting. Ancient enough that I wonder that she still exists, and yet her memories have been scattered, as if melted into the very seas,” he replied with a slight nod, then paused, looking at Sistina and asking, “May I continue? They are your secrets to keep if you wish to do so.”
She nodded and made a dismissive gesture, and he laughed, shaking his head. “Intriguing indeed. She was imprisoned in a soul gem so long ago that I am uncertain as to what happened. Without being able to escape, with her memories unraveling, she stopped thinking in words. She thinks in concepts and images, which I can only just read myself. But she intends to show you what it is that she knows. It isn’t all she knew, perhaps, but piecing together her memories will be the work of years at best.”
“Oh. Oh!” Desa’s eyes grew bright with enlightenment. “She’s not a dryad, she’s a dungeon! That explains her magic!”
“A what?” Lily’s confusion was obvious as she asked, “How can a person be a dungeon?”
“She is not a dungeon. The proper term is a genius loci,” the elemental corrected with a frown, shaking his head. “She is effectively the spirit of a place, and her domain has been slowly expanding. Those which you call dungeons are genius loci as well, but they are often malevolent in nature. In order to gain power more quickly, they will create monsters, treasures, and other things within themselves, and they feed on the mana which is released when creatures die. She does not do any of that. She draws power from that which lives inside her. Every plant, every animal, and every speck of moss grants her a tithe of its power. It isn’t as swift of growth as the methods used by dungeons, but it is far more benign in nature. She i
s the one who opened the pathway here for you, and it took a great deal of her time and power to manage.”
Lily’s eyes went wide and she looked at Sistina, who shook her head slightly. Giving the elemental a nod, she walked past him toward the temple.
“That explains much,” Phynis murmured, watching Sistina walk forward, and shook her head again as Lily followed the dryad. “It definitely explains all the plants.”
“Perhaps, but my explanation appears to have somewhat annoyed her, so I suggest that you follow her,” the elemental told them, smiling in amusement. “She wants to show you what she came here to address.”
“Of course. Thank you, Lord Elemental.” Phynis bowed her head toward him, and hesitated a moment to ask, “Is there anything you would ask of me?”
“If you would ask any priests or priestesses of My Lady to come to attend her temple again, it would be appreciated. The time since this place was buried has been slow to pass without the visits of worshipers,” he told her, as he slowly sank back into the pool and vanished without a trace.
“I will see what I can do,” she promised, and then hurried after the dryad. Even though she knew that Sistina wasn’t actually a dryad, that was what she thought of her as. The doors were open before Phynis, revealing a spotless temple foyer, with inscriptions in elven script even older than that which had been on the tomb. She could still read some of the prayers, though, and Phynis couldn’t help but wonder if the worship of Navir had changed in the thousands of years since this temple was built. So very much had been lost in the Godsrage, and intact buildings such as this were almost unheard of.
Sistina paused, then pointed at Lily’s abdomen, where the brand was located. Making a gesture like breaking a branch, she pointed at the floor, and then clasped her hands as if praying. She looked at Lily expectantly, and the elf considered a moment before venturing uncertainly, “Umm… praying in a church can break it?”
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